Abstract: 【Abstract】 Objective To analyze results of microbiological culture of lesion exudates and drug sensitivity test in patients with pemphigus, and to optimize the management protocol of pemphigus. Methods Inpatients with pemphigus were collected from Department of Dermatology and Venereology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from January to December in 2008, and the results of microbiological culture of skin lesion exudates and drug sensitivity test were retrospectively analyzed. Results A total of 176 patients were collected, and skin lesion exudate culture yielded 25 kinds of bacteria and 11 kinds of fungi in 156 （88.64%） patients. Of the 156 patients, 1 kind of pathogen was yielded in 104 （66.67%）, and 2 or more kinds of pathogens were yielded in 52 （33.33%）. Gram-positive cocci were detected in 134 （76.14%） cases, including Staphylococcus aureus in 80, Staphylococcus hemolyticus in 21, and Staphylococcus epidermidis in 16; Gram-negative bacilli were detected in 66 （37.50%） cases; fungi were detected in 24 （13.64%） cases. In addition, 89 （93.68%） of 95 relapsed patients showed positive culture results, 67 （82.72%） of 81 patients with newly developed pemphigus had positive culture results, and the positive rate significantly differed between the two groups （χ2 = 5.22, P <0.05）. Drug sensitivity test for Staphylococcus aureus isolates showed that 71 （97.26%） of 73 were sensitive to vancomycin, 69 （97.18%） of 71 to linezolid, and 61 （87.14%） of 70 to rifampin. Conclusion Cutaneous infection, especially Gram-positive cocci infection, is very common in patients with pemphigus, and Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates were highly sensitive to vancomycin, linezolid and rifampicin.

Key words: Pemphigus, Infection, Microbial sensitivity tests, Staphylococcus aureus, Vancomycin